There are various causes of the common peroneal nerve palsy. However, common peroneal nerve palsy caused by ganglia are uncommon. We hereby present a case of a 55-year-old man with a 1 week history of foot drop and swelling in the region of the right leg. Physical examination and nerve conduction study studies confirmed a diagnosis of common peroneal nerve palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a lobulated, elongated cystic-appearing mass anterior to the head of fibula. Surgical decompression of the nerve with removal of the mass was performed. Surgical pathology reports confirmed the diagnosis of a ganglion cyst. Findings on physical examination, nerve conduction study and MRI results of this interesting case are being discussed. We wish to highlight that even a tumour which is benign and within the nerve sheath can cause compression.
The author reports a case of a 11-year old child presented with peroneal nerve entrapment secondary to proximal fibular osteochondroma, with complete recovery of function following the excision of the tumor.
BACKGROUND: The role of endothelial injury and circulating adhesion molecule in the development and progression of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in the long-term has been established previously.
AIMS: To study the effects of short-term glycemic control using insulin and oral hypoglycemic agent therapy (OHA) on the peroneal nerve function and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and advanced glycation endproducts (AGE) levels in type 2 diabetic patients.
SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A randomized controlled study involving poorly controlled (HbA1c, 7.5%-11%) type 2 diabetic patients attending the endocrinology outpatient center in a tertiary hospital in Kuala Lumpur.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine patients were randomized to receive insulin (n=15) or OHA (n=14) for 8 weeks. The glycemic variables (HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose [FPG], fructosamine), VCAM-1, serum AGE and the peroneal motor conduction velocity (PMCV) were measured at baseline and at 4-week intervals.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Paired 't' test or Kruskal Wallis test; and the unpaired 't' test or Mann-Whitney U test were used for within-group and between-group analyses, respectively. Correlation was analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient.
RESULTS: Within-group analysis showed significant progressive improvement in HbA1c at weeks 4 and 8 in the insulin group. The PMCV improved significantly in both groups by week 8, and by week 4 (P = 0.01) in the insulin group. PMCV correlated negatively with VCAM-1 (P = 0.031) and AGE (P = 0.009) at week 8.
CONCLUSION: Aggressive glycemic control with insulin improves the peroneal nerve function within 4 weeks. Improvement in the serum VCAM-1 and AGE levels correlated significantly with improvement in peroneal nerve conduction velocity only in the insulin group.
Study site: Tertiary endocrinology outpatient center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia